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Digital Education

Virginia Tech CS faculty work on a broad array of projects related to education in the Internet age. From applying new pedagogy for improving CS education to supporting online educational communities to deploying effective technology in the K-12 classroom, Digital Education is a growing research area in our Department.

The Algorithm Visualization Research Group seeks to understand all aspects of algorithm visualization as it applies to supporting the understanding of algorithms for teaching and research. Primary activities include support for an emerging community of users and developers of Algorithm Visualizations (AVs) through the AlgoViz Wiki (algoviz.cs.vt.edu); development of exemplary AVs and the online eTextbook system OpenDSA (http://algoviz.org/OpenDSA/), and pedagogical research aimed at a deep understanding of how to make Algorithm Visualization successful in teaching and learning.

The PIM lab studies how individuals use technology to organize and use their day to day information needs. The goal is to explore how to best make use of our limited personal resources (time, money, energy, attention) to improve the quality of our lives. This often translate to better productivity but can simply mean more satisfaction. An area of interest is how advances in PIM research could informs education programs that focus on information literacy. We are particularly interested in how people use many devices in their day to day activities. To support that, we have available for research desktops, laptops, web servers, large displays, iPods, PDAs, RFIDs, phone system with support for VoiceXML, and many other technologies.

The POET lab engages in research of real-world technology projects that promote equity and excellence in K-12 math and science classrooms and university engineering education, explores systems (especially Tuple Space-based) to support complex human coordination, lies in the realms of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) and computer-supported cooperative learning (CSCL), evaluates handheld, tablet, and large-screen computing, and contributes to the issues of social attention and technology.

Social computing is the study of the social use and impact of information technology, and the study of information technology designed specifically for social purposes, such as interpersonal and group communication, discussion, and social interaction (e.g., electronic mail, instant messenger, discussion tools, blogging, and social websites, such as Friendster, Facebook, and MySpace). It draws on multiple disciplines, including sociology, social psychology, political science, communication studies, and computer science.

The Software Innovations Lab at Virginia Tech creates novel software tools that facilitate the development and maintenance of the computer systems of today and tomorrow. The Lab's research activities explore how advanced software engineering practices, including automatic code generation, program transformation, novel system designs and programming paradigms can assist in the development and sustainment of complex computer systems. Current research projects include automated refactoring of framework-based applications, novel architectures for high-performance bioinformatics software, new programming abstractions for distributed object systems, and automated program enhancement.